Blockchain startups raise $258m in a week

Throughout the week of Might 19 to Might 25, blockchain startups collectively raised over $258 million, spearheaded by decentralized social protocol Farcaster’s $150 million sequence A spherical.

In accordance with Crypto Fundraising, 4 startups raised $179.2 million in Collection A rounds within the final seven days, whereas 12 startups received $24.1 million through unknown rounds.

5 startups gained $21.3 million from seed rounds; two locked in $20 million mixed from strategic rounds.

One other two startups earned $9 million from personal rounds, whereas a closing one raised $5 million from a public sale spherical.

Under is a roundup of the week’s crypto VC motion.

Farcaster hits unicorn standing with $150m sequence A

Ethereum-based decentralized social media protocol Farcaster secured $150 million in a Collection A funding spherical led by enterprise agency Paradigm. The spherical additionally featured important contributions from a16z crypto, Haun Ventures, Union Sq. Ventures, and Customary Crypto, amongst others. It elevated Farcaster’s valuation to a staggering $1 billion, marking its entry into unicorn territory.

Co-founder Dan Romero shared that the protocol will use the contemporary capital in two main areas: growing day by day lively customers and enhancing developer instruments like channels and direct messaging. Moreover, Farcaster plans to rent extra engineers to help these initiatives.

Plume Community raises $10m for L2 blockchain

Plume Community, a modular Layer 2 (L2) community designed to facilitate the on-chain integration of real-world belongings (RWAs), additionally announced a profitable $10 million seed funding spherical led by Haun Ventures. 

The California-based enterprise capital agency was joined within the spherical by Galaxy Ventures, Superscrypt, A Capital, SV Angel, and Portal Ventures. A number of angel buyers, resembling Anthony Ramirez from Wormhole Labs and Andrew Kang from Mechanism, additionally participated.

Plume CEO Chris Yin acknowledged that the funds will advance the corporate’s mission of simplifying the method of bringing belongings like actual property and artwork onto blockchain platforms.

Blockless secures $8m for decentralized infrastructure growth

Blockless, a decentralized bodily infrastructure community (DePIN) mission, raised $8 million throughout two early funding rounds. 

The preliminary $3 million pre-seed spherical was led by NGC Ventures, adopted by a $5 million seed spherical co-led by M31 Capital and Frachtis. Extra buyers included No Restrict Holdings, MH Ventures, Interop Ventures, and Plassa Capital.

The mission’s co-founder, Butian Li, revealed that the funds will help the launch of a check community within the coming weeks. A foremost community and native BLESS token are set for launch in Q3 2024.

Pencils Protocol, IVX safe seed funding

Pencils Protocol, an public sale platform and yield aggregator on the Scroll community, raised $2.1 million in a seed spherical led by OKX Ventures, Animoca Manufacturers, and Galxe. 

In the meantime, one other mission, IVX, secured $1.2 million in a seed spherical backed by Animoca Ventures and different buyers.